Got Good Ears? Give this test on audio quality a shot

[Shawn@PRS]

I tried it with my computer speakers and got 4/6, I believe I would have done better with headphones.

https://www.npr.org/sections/therec...are&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I tried it with my computer speakers and got 4/6, I believe I would have done better with headphones.

https://www.npr.org/sections/therec...are&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

I will have to try it when it’s not being drowned out by snoring (and she has the audacity to tell me I snore!)

 

[Elliot]

I picked the 320kb/s MP3 every time except on the Coldplay song where I picked the sh!ttier MP3. Oops! I was wearing Bose headphones plugged into my macbook pro.

I'm a perfect example of what they were trying to test. I could not hear the difference between the uncompressed wav file and the highest quality MP3 at all. Maybe my results show that I prefer the compressed negligible sounds of the mp3 (if that's possible, I don't know anything about MP3 compression). I'd need a bigger sample size to find out, but 5 out of 6 in favor of the mp3 is a pretty strong result.

Thanks for sharing Shawn!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

They all sound the same through my iPhone with a baby crying.

 

[flux]

I picked the 320kb/s MP3 every time except on the Coldplay song

Just did exactly the same thing, listening though my Sennheisers.

 

[Elliot]

Just did exactly the same thing, listening though my Sennheisers.

i smell a conspiracy

 

[flux]

i smell a conspiracy

Right? I'm gunna need some evidence that the clips are what they claim... where's the tinfoil emoji?

 

[garrett]

3/6 on my phone through my Grado SR60, loud.

On two of my misses I chose 320, which reaffirms my long standing opinion that that's high enough bit rate for me.

I picked 128 on that Jay Z track. Was tough to tell them apart so I picked the one that seemed to hit hardest.

 

[Huggy Love]

...... I guess I don't only got 2..........
I don't like games I suck at. Grrrr

 

[flux]

I'd need a bigger sample size to find out, but 5 out of 6 in favor of the mp3 is a pretty strong result.

It'd be interesting to get a do-over with some more varied material, rather than selections that feel designed to prove a point. In that regard it seems less than a fair test, but I realize that's also not the point.

At least include a softball ... like the 96kHz/24 bit version of Snakes & Arrows, or something.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

On two of my misses I chose ...

I misread that as "One of my two misses chose..."

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I misread that as "One of my two misses chose..."

Maybe use this track as a comparison, with that thought in mind!!

 

[Mike Duncan]

Man, I love it that they used Suzanne Vega!

 

[GuitarDrummer]

...... I guess I don't only got 2..........
I don't like games I suck at. Grrrr

I couldn't even do it. Used Sennheiser Bluetooth headphones, and could not tell. Then switched to the monitors on desk, and could not tell.

I guess the good news is that I can save a few bucks on the downloads I buy.

 

[rugerpc]

I'm gonna have to stream this to the monster Macintosh speakers on the home audio.

 

[toothace]

3/6 for me...cheap plug-in speaker at the office with various suction and air turbine noises wafting down the hallway.

 

[AP515]

I could hear a difference. Liked them both.

They didn't say pick the one delivering the most digital information, they said pick the one with the highest quality. So with that objective I got 6/6. I can't help it if they thought otherwise.

 

[bodia]

6/6 on my PC through a pair of Yamaha HS5's. I will say, I had to focus on a certain section of each song though, and compare each track. For example, on the Neil Young track I listened to the last 3/4 of each sample to ascertain a difference. That's where there was the "most" going on in that track. The hardest one was Suzanne Vega because it was vocal only.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

I went home and tried again using a crappy pair of earbuds through my laptop. Needless to say, the results suffered.

 

[Tucson Thump]

They all sound the same through my iPhone with a baby crying.

Congratulations for being identified as the market they are aiming for.